New book tells stories of New Madrid recorded by a native

When she was researching a book on the history of New Madrid a decade ago, Mary Sue Anton didn't have the benefit of extensive Internet archives at her fingertips. "I spent many hours in libraries, historical society reading rooms, museums, courthouse archives, some cobwebby, as well as overgrown cemeteries," said the 79-year-old author. Her husband and fellow researcher, Arthur, often accompanied her.

"But one evening at dusk, after I located a countryside cemetery, my husband opted to stay in the car as I trudged across a sodden, plowed field. It is said that once you leave New Madrid you will return because you have gumbo on your shoes. But, alas, I had been away too long and the closer I got to the monument the deeper I sank." Anton said. "But researching is always worth it: in this case an impressive monument to a Civil War hero planted in the middle of a corn field."

That was only one of Anton's many discoveries while working on "New Madrid: A Mississippi River Town in History and Legend." The book was released in May. She shared some insight into her work and her own history.

Q. You're a native of New Madrid; where do you currently live?

A. I have resided in Texas for 40 years, in Taylor Lake Village, a little town surrounded by three lakes.

Q. How did growing up in Southeast Missouri impact your writing?

A. New Madrid is a historic town and my roots go back to 1789 when my great-great-great-grandfather, Dr. Richard Jones Waters, a Maryland native, left Louisville and followed town founder George Morgan to New Madrid. A fascinating era; he is seen as "Richar Jean" and, then, as 'Ricardo Juan." But I think it was possibly living through the 1937 flood "scare," that impacted my writing more, when, after my family escaped caving riverbanks, we lived in the courthouse. I recall circling around men sleeping on the tile floor, exhausted from sandbagging the levees to keep the raging river waters at bay.

Q. What inspired "New Madrid: A Mississippi River Town in History and Legend"?

A. In 1994, I compiled a genealogy book, "Pioneers of New Madrid and Their Descendant" and when I began to uncover tales that I had not heard I decided to put them down on paper for future generations. At first, I wrote about famous people with connections to New Madrid, but the book soon evolved into more: New Madrid's history and legends.

Q. What's your favorite part of the book?

A. My favorite part has to be the chapter of wannabe Jesse Jameses who murdered the young scion of a prominent New Madrid family. Or else, the chapter called "Invisible Women" about the silent roles women played in the scheme of things in the 19th century. "The Lynchings," the saddest of all, would be a close third: this chapter punches a powerful message.

Q. Now that "New Madrid" is finished, what's next on your plate?

A. My next book will be stories I eliminated from my "New Madrid" draft after it got too long. This work will tell about early newspapers, courthouse fires, steamboat tragedies, travel-weary religious caring for their scattered flocks despite long, dangerous journeys, along with a more gentler side of 19th century America: young ladies studying needlework, muslin, beadwork and philosophy and old ladies vying for the best millinery in town.

This story first appeared in the June TBY. Find the next issue of TBY in the first Monday edition of the Southeast Missourian.